New Brunswick Budget 2020

Nouvelles fiscalesmars 11, 2020

On March 10, 2020, the Honourable Ernie Steeves, Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, presented the 2020 New Brunswick budget. This budget predicts that provincial revenues and spending will grow by 3.4% and 3.5%, respectively. Based on these revenue and spending projections, this year’s budget estimates a surplus for the province of $92 million.

New Brunswick has committed to reducing taxes for its residents and proposed a few measures designed to achieve that goal, as noted below.

Property Tax

Beginning in the 2021 taxation year, the budget proposes a reduction in the residential non-owner-occupied property tax rate equal to 14.04 cents per year until 2024. This represents a 50% reduction over the four-year period and will lower the tax rate to 56.17 cents per $100 of assessment value at the end of this period. In addition, the province has proposed to reduce the provincial non-residential property tax rate to help alleviate the high tax burden faced by business. Under this proposal, the tax rate will be reduced by 8.25 cents per year for four years, with the rate becoming $1.856 per $100 of assessment in 2024, down from the current rate of $2.186 per $100 of assessment value.

Carbon and Fuel Tax

The budget also addresses the province’s growing environmental consciousness by reaffirming its commitment to a made-in-New Brunswick carbon tax. When this tax is introduced on April 1, 2020, the price on carbon will be equal to 6.63 cents per litre for gasoline and 8.05 cents per litre for diesel. At the same time, the province will decrease its gasoline tax by 4.63 cents per litre and motive fuel tax by 6.05 cents per litre. These measures will leave the effective price on carbon at 2 cents per litre for both gasoline and motive fuel (i.e., diesel). However, these changes are contingent on the legislation becoming law before April 1, 2020.